A car, a bike and the quest to find the best mango desserts in Mumbai

For most of us here at ZigWheels, our passion for cars, bikes, and to be honest, anything with an engine and a set of wheels is far greater than everything else in the world. The only other thing that comes close is our collective passion for a good meal. In fact, our daily debate on what we should eat for lunch often overshadows discussions on whether the weekend’s Formula 1 and MotoGP race were any good. So what happens when a bunch of ‘hard working’ motoring journalists go in search for some well deserved mango desserts in Mumbai? Well, read on....

Our evening started with the usual discussion on whether we would be home in time for dinner and the day’s IPL cricket match when an idea struck. Why don’t we skip the usual dinner plans and, as a team, head out to explore a part of Mumbai we often take for granted – its bustling midnight food hotspots! After much debate it was decided that instead of just a dose of Mumbai fast food, it would be a great idea to go on a mango based desert binge instead! And hence, while most of the team squeezed into the Hyundai i20 Active, Eshan seemed to wriggle free of Arun’s grasp and made off with the Harley-Davidson Street 750. What better vehicles than a hopped-up, urban-warfare-ready hatchback and the cheapest Harley Davidson motorcycle to take on the streets of Mumbai just when the hustle and bustle has managed to wrap itself up for the day and the streets become an absolute joy to drive on. Our first stop then – Amar Juice Centre (not owned by our namesake colleague and talented video editor Amar) in Juhu!

Known to be a local landmark, Amar Juice centre has one of the best mango milkshakes we have ever tasted. Although we aren’t really food bloggers and are quite out of our element when it comes to reviewing food per se, we definitely can tell a good desert from another.

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And the milkshake at Amar would certainly be a great benchmark for the night! The other advantage that Amar has is the fact that it is right by the roadside, which means easy access, if like us you are driving there.

Following fellow colleague and local suburbanite Ravi’s instincts and instructions, we made our way to the next stop for the night. The ever popular Gokul Ice Cream Centre in the bylanes of Khar. Our first taste of freshly cut mangoes, which incidentally were some brilliant and mouth wateringly tasty Alphanso, mated with some equally tasty fresh mango ice cream was also at Gokul. In fact, the mango ice cream was so tasty that is was instantly lapped up by the team leaving your scribe quite annoyed......until another serving of the same magically showed up at the table!

Although their ice cream is brilliant, the mango milkshake here was just a tad bit disappointing. Gokul is also a little hidden and can be difficult to find if you don’t really know the bylanes quite well. The best thing to do if you do get a little lost and don’t have Google Maps to fall back upon, is to ask a local rickshaw driver for directions.

Back in the car and after much phone-calling and tweeting, we found our next stop. A relatively new place called the Shahi Darbar (Royal Court) that has opened up just off Carter Road in Bandra. And boy were we in for a surprise!! Shahi Darbar has one of the largest list of mango desserts we would encounter that night, from the evergreen ice cream and milkshake to the more elaborate mango sundae with fresh cream or mango Ice cream with whipped cream combination. And of course, since Team ZigWheels was on a very ‘serious fact finding trip’ *cough cough*, we had to try them all! Soon, amongst the noise and crowd that normally surrounds Carter Road and after we had found a parking spot for the Hyundai i20 Active and the Harley Davidson Street 750 (that as usual drew quite a crowd), most of us were lost in a trance of phenomenal mango desserts.

The best one though, without any shadow of a doubt though, was the mango ice cream mixed with a generous serving of freshly cut mangoes topped up with a heart-stopping dose of whipped cream! After much lip smacking and debating, the score stood as follows – Amar still had the best milkshake, Gokul was ahead with its ice cream while Shahi Darbar was most certainly the place to be if you wanted a dose of whipped cream with your mangoes! Time to move to south Mumbai and the two most legendary desert (and midnight snack) eateries in Mumbai’s illustrious history.

Up first was Haji Ali Juice centre. What started off as a small juice shop opposite Heera Panna and right outside the Haji Ali Dargah’s entrance, this now legendary eatery has to be on everyone’s list of must-visits in Mumbai. And of course, as with most places the serves the millions that wander Mumbai in search for a good meal and an interesting culinary experience, it truly comes into its own is only post 9-10PM in the night and thankfully, parking is never really an issue here. Haji Ali Juice Centre is best known for its fresh cream and fruit combinations and of course, the mango and fresh cream combined with the equally tasty milkshake were to die for.

In fact, the milkshake was even better than the one at Amar we started our night off with. But was the fresh cream as good as the urban legend that precedes it? Well, the fact that it disappeared in under a minute and left the team longing for more should be an accurate answer for that question. Onwards to our last destination for the day – Bachelors Juice Centre at the iconic Chowpatty.

Now although I personally have been a regular at Bachelors for the last decade or so, I have had some instances in the last few years where the desserts were just not up to par with what I had expected. That said, this time around, Team ZigWheels was about to be blown clean away! Bachelors have a gargantuan list of mango based desserts you can choose from, ranging from the simple and evergreen ice cream, to its milkshakes, to a more indulgent whipped cream and mango combination.

And as they say, we probably did leave the best for last. While the mango ice cream at Gokul was still probably the best, the whipped cream and mango combination was most certainly the star at Bachelors! In fact, this was possibly the best Mango desert we had in our rather ‘scientific and meticulous approach’ to bring you readers a detailed experience in Mumbai’s desserts.

And of course, being an automotive portal, we must tell you how well the two steeds for the night fared when it came to moving our rather ‘well-fed’ team around. The Hyundai first – the i20 Active may not appeal to everyone’s taste but when it comes to standing out amongst the sea of hatchbacks that crowds the streets of Mumbai, it does a damn good job standing out with its plastic claddings and large wheels! With a large boot that swallowed two camera bags, a bunch of riding gear and of course, half a dozen helmets, to a rather spacious rear seat and a comfortable ride, it is the perfect car to dump your family and friends into for a night around town.

The Harley Davidson Street 750 on the other hand, is the flip side of the coin though. Rebellious by nature and surprisingly powerful while offering a surprisingly comfortable ride even to the most ham fisted rider, the Harley is quite possibly the best performance bike to cruise around a city like Mumbai in. And of course, with the kind of attention it draws, buying it will make you feel quite nice and fuzzy underneath your newly bought Harley riding gear.

So, coming back to the debate at hand – did we really find the best mango desert destination in Mumbai? Well, yes. Although it is genuinely difficult to really choose one place, we can with a degree of certainty tell you this – none of the places we went to will end up disappointing you. Gokul in Khar does have the best standalone ice cream, Shahi Darbar at Bandra will startle you with its variety and Haji Ali Juice Centre does have some absolutely phenomenal cream and mango combinations. But, if you are looking for that perfect combination of everything bundled up into half a decent place you can drive or ride to, Bachelors is our pick for the best mango desserts in Mumbai city!